Last year we learned about the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) Passport Program which offers benefits across dozens of science and technology centers nationwide, including free admission. This has been particularly useful when we travel to Philadelphia, since it means there are several museums nearby that we can get into for free. A couple weeks ago we used it to go to The Franklin Institute on a Friday that we both took off from work.
I’ll start off by saying we were a little disappointed by a couple things: The Giant Heart that you walk through was closed for a massive renovation of the body exhibit and the Electricity exhibit was closed for the body renovation too… because the electricity exhibit is being retired in favor of an expanded body exhibit. We’ve done the heart and we’ll be back in the future, but the retirement of the electricity section of the museum is particularly gutting. I’ve been fascinated with electrical science and engineering as long as I can remember, and exhibits like the one at TFI were inspirational as a youth. It’s really sad to see it go away, especially at The [Benjamin] Franklin Institute, named after a founding father who is possibly most famous for his experiments with electricity. Ultimately, I hope the next generation of electrical engineers finds another way to gain inspiration, and this isn’t some sort of trend among science museums. The train exhibit was also closed, but we knew about that going in, it’s coming back in November.
But on to our visit! We may have gotten in for free, but then we did the paid add-on to see the Art of the Brick exhibit. It was worth it. Various pieces of Lego art were displayed around the gallery, including recreations of classical art, people and animals and dinosaurs, and a couple Philadelphia-specific builds, including The Liberty Bell and the statue of Benjamin Franklin that’s in the lobby of the institute itself.
The conclusion had a large area where the boys could free play with Lego.
The boys loved the displays, but also had a blast building Lego cars that they could then race down a little ramp they had set up. The exit was through the gift shop, where a final Lego set followed us home.
We grabbed some lunch at the on-site cafe before making our way around the rest of the museum. We went to a live show about combustion, which I was really proud of the boys for being so engaged with. We also went to our first planetarium show. We’d held off going because we hadn’t really brought the boys into dark places where they had to be quiet, and I knew it would be a challenge for both of them. It was. Aaron and I almost had to leave because as much as he loves space, he also loves talking and asking questions, and really struggled with staying quiet when he wanted to ask 100 questions about stars. Still, he managed to quiet down and we made it through. We’ll do more in the future!
Walking to the planetarium
The hands-on nature of the museum was a hit with the boys just like last time, and of course MJ and I enjoyed it too, I’m really glad we went.
The planetarium was also a nice segue into using our telescope on Sunday. The boys always want to use MJ’s old telescope, but it’s been really hot all summer, and with the sun setting so late, we haven’t wanted to keep them up late enough to really appreciate it. But one night the moon was looking particularly lovely and it wasn’t so hot, so I was able to get it set up for a peek. Adam was finally able to see the moon through it, and so did my phone! It needs to be cleaned, and astrophotography with a 30+ year old telescope and a smart phone is not optimal, but I was still impressed with how it came out.
On Saturday we did a make-up swim lesson in the morning and then went to a BBQ at a relative’s house in the late afternoon. It was family we hadn’t yet seen on this visit, so it was nice to finally get the opportunity. They have kids too, so there were lots of interesting new things to play with while the adults enjoyed catching up. At the end Aaron even got to play on their trampoline.
Sunday we went to Sesame Place with Irina and Sammy. It’s only 15 minutes from our place here, so it’s been on our radar for a long time, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s next to a mall and I always thought it was an inexpensive Philadelphia-local little park. Turns out, it’s bigger and more impressive than I expected, but also quite expensive. It was bought by Sea World a few years back, and I’ve heard the prices have gone up as a result, and a lot of changes (good and bad) were made.
The first thing we noticed is that they were short-staffed, which is ridiculous on a Sunday in the middle of summer with what they charge for admission. We got on “Big Bird’s Bus Tour” after stashing our stuff in an expensive locker. From there we tried a water ride but failed because that turned out to have an hour+ wait because they only had a single life guard managing the bottom of the ride so only one slide was open. Several other water slides were closed entirely. The “Little Bird’s Bay” splash area was open, so we had fun getting soaked there and cooling off a bit before going to lunch.
Getting lunch was a disaster. It took a half hour for Adam and I to get a couple mini pizzas we ordered from the wildly chaotic lunch shop we went to, and then the bagged apple slices we got with his meal were super gross and slimy and I had to exchange them for something else. By the time we rejoined MJ, Aaron, Irina, and Sammy, they had finished half their meal and had a story of their own to tell about their poor experience. Even worse, they don’t allow outside food, so your only option is to leave the park and drive somewhere, or eat at these mediocre, expensive, on-site eateries. Boo. Irina then had to leave for Sammy’s nap, having only enjoyed a couple rides, though they did get to go on the carousel on the way out.
After lunch MJ, Adam, Aaron, and I ventured on. We decided to skip the huge Count’s Court water area in favor of some dry rides, figuring we’d come back toward the end for that. We did three rides over in Elmo’s World, I took the boys on “Peek-a-Bug,” all four of us did “Flyin’ Fish” and Aaron and I enjoyed going on “Blast Off” which is ride that goes up and drops you, but he LOVED it! Then everything was shut down. Storm clouds were rolling in and a thunderstorm threat made operations unsafe.
At this point, Adam was mad at me for skipping Count’s Court, since he really, really wanted to do more water stuff. As hundreds of people left the park, we had to think about what to do. It wasn’t raining yet, and chance of precipitation was 50-70%, so chances are it would rain and the rides wouldn’t resume. We decided to stay for the 3PM parade. The parade is definitely a highlight of the experience there! The kids seemed to enjoy it, and so did I.
After the parade we made one final lap, but with everything still closed we decided to leave. The gift shop is a real treat, I might even go back because it’s outside the park and open to the public. We got to the car with perfect timing as the rain suddenly began, and it was quite the storm, the entire drive home it was pouring.
In spite of the disappointments, I think we all managed to have fun and we learned a lot for the next time we visit. A friend of mine (who was actually there on Sunday and we missed because I didn’t see his text!) swears by getting a cabana as a home base for the day, and the season passes that include quicker access to rides. We’ll think about that next year. The water stuff is tricky unless we both go in with the kids, especially at Count’s Court because the boys are still a bit little to be without a parent right next to them in 3 ft water, and they flee in different directions when they get excited about water. Next summer should be better for that, and we’ll just both plan on going on the water stuff. For lunch we may even consider going off-site, since it likely would take just as long as trying to get it on-site and we’d get better food.